FOX more than four years,

" in the delta lands and the ,
jungles, aong the sea. coast, ,

aud in the mountains, war
has been raging in Viet-Nam.
Throughout the Western
countries the press strives to
confuse the issue with talk
about “Soviet expansion” and
dispatches invariably refer
to the Vietnamese people’s

forces as “rebels.” ANESUVE
throughout Viet-Nam_ there
‘S no confusion — for the

people of Viet-Nam the issue
1s their freedom and national

independence and the French

forces are the invaders.
What are the facts that
the apologists for French —
and American — imperialism
obscure ?
_ On August 25, 1945, follow-
ing the Japanese surrender,
the people of Viet-Nam est-
ablished a Provisional Demo-
Cratic government. Less than

-& month later, on September

2. the Democratic Republic
ot Viet-Nam declared its in-

dependence. Elections were
Conducted throughout the

Country and on March 3, 1946,
Ho Chi Minh, the revolution-
ary leader who had devoted

is dife to the struggle for

his country’s independence
and led’ the guerilla war
“Sainst the * Japanese and

their. French " collaboration-
Sts, was elected president of
the new republic.

The people of Viet-Nam,
having fought and defeated

_ the Japanese, wanted peace

tor the democratic recon-
Struction of their country.
Nor did the French people,

who themselves had suffer-

ed the horrors and humilia-
ace of German occupation,
sire.a war to reimpose the

Vee of imperialism on
_stet-Nam. But the French
™perialists were not pre-

Pared to relinquish the rich
Natural resources of Viet-

Nam, no matter how long

°F costly the struggle to re-

Sain them,

an December 19, 1946, the
Fench in effect tore up

their agreements with the

Rew republic by attacking

“for

anol, its capital in North

tet-Nam, thus extending
to the entire country the at-
tempted reconquest begun
'n South Viet-Nam on Sept-
“mber 23, 1945,

Our years of, war have
6st the French colonialists
a estimated 19,000 casual-
_'SS and more than $2 billion,
es Constant military defeats
ae brought them to the

S€ of disaster. Their only
_Pe of prolonging the war
‘S through American  inter-
Yention,
nit the military field, the Viet-
building up their own armed
i and dealing shattering
The ae the invaders.
cnc Tst plan conceived by the
Shahi cake oe ae

& the backbone of the

dio:

CTRL ATS Se
8: Natmese People’s Army and

- More op

“brain of- the ‘Viet-Namese

Lh re
Sistance movement, which they

t
nenght to be in the extreme
‘Of the country—ended in

tie <
oe utter failure of their large-.
ale go,

ope
Yorthern Perations against the

area in the autumn and
wii
the sf 1047, As a result of

ities
+o; editvaacien of a,great part

t French troops in this

OF Ten, the Viet-Namese war

i Sistace entered a new stage
ig
rich the Opposing forces were
jess equal in strength.
TeSort, this failure, the French
O60 @ long-term plat, ac-

,

™Mese People have succeeded in.

POMC ASE

Four years
of war in

TELM Bigimiguieue

Viet-Nam

BY HONG HA

HO CHI MINH ‘

to which the already
occupied areas would first be
“pacified” and then offensives
would be launched *to conquer
new territory. The years 1948 and
1949 witnessed the breakdown of
the second French plan..

During the same period, parti-
cularly in 1949, the people’s war
of resistance developed rapidly.
\Units of the People’s Army and
people’s militia operated in the
enemy rear, teaching and organ-
ising the people, dispersing pup-
pet authorities, destroying enemy
communications and supplies, at-
tacking enemy garrisons and
property in the cities, wiping out
isolated enemy posts and realizing
the slogan, ‘Reduce the enemy
occupied zone and transform the
enemy rear into our bases.”
Scores of enemy posts were cap-
tured and tens of thousands of
square miles were liberated be-
tween the end of 1948 and the
beginning of 1949.

By ‘the end of 1949, in view
of the Viet-Namese successes and
the Chinese people’s victory in

cording

‘their war of liberation, the French

adopted still another plan pro-
posed by General Revers. Ac-
cording to this, they would ask
for more help’ from the United
States and, meantime, they would
concentrate their troops in North
Viet-Nam, tightly close the Sino-

Viet-Namese border and hold on

to North Viet-Nam.

_ The recent Viet-Namese victor-
ies along the Sino-Viet-Namese
border and in the central part
of Bac-Bo (North Viet-Nam) are
evidence of the failure of this
third French plan. In one month,
the whole French defence system
along the border was smashed to
pieces; nine crack French bat-
talions were wiped out and seven
big French-occupied townships
recaptured by the Viet-Namese
People’s Army.

Even before this catastrophe,
the French had already suffered
heavy losses, including about
90,000 killed, from the day they
started their aggression against
Nam-Bo (South Viet-Nam) .in
September, 1945, to the end of
1949.

The Viet-Namese armed forces,
built up during this long and
mortal strupgle against the ag-
gressors, have grown in cohg-

sion,. strength, ability and arma-
‘ment. ; ‘

4 _
PTE tC et Te ee ee Bee EE Pee

During the first period of the
resistance, two-thirds of the peo-
ple’s regular troops were divided
into small units which operated
in the enemy rear to organize
and arm thé people, and develop
guerilla warfare. As a _ second
step, enemy convoys and isolated
posts were attacked by several
small units grouped into a regi-
ment, Then gradually, two or
three regiments were concen-
trated to carry out a whole cam-
paign. Now, larger concentrations
of troops can be developed to
fight on a wide front.

Guerilla forces, operating with
the whole population, provide the
National Army with inexhaus-
tible reserves. The guerilla move-
ment has developed on a wide
scale in. the countryside and in
the cities throughout the land.
Striking from the liberated areas
and within the French-controlled
districts, they harass and. under-
mine the enemy’s forces.

These military successes are

complemented by hardly less _

striking achievements in other
spheres, Despite the French
blockade ,the backwardness of
the country, and the lack of
trained personnel and pharma-
ceutical products, Viet-Nam has
succeeded in training new medi-
cal units and making medicines
to meet the greater part of the

-army’s needs.

Another remarkable achieve-
ment is the creation of a war
industry using old-time ma-
chines, rudimentary tools and
scrap metal collected from des-
troyed cities to produce not only
rifles but bazookas, mortars an
other weapons. ¢

e

In the political field, the Viet-
Namese people, uniting their
ranks in the National United
Front (Lien-Viet) and in support
of the government of Ho Chi
Minh, have foiled all the French
attempts to ‘divide-and- rule.’
Workers, peasants, businessmen,
intellectuals, youth and women,
grouped in their respective organ-
izations, are straining every nerve
to help the government and the
army to prepare the general
counter-offensive.

As President Ho Chi Hinh has

pointed out, the National United
Front, relying upon the solid al-
liance of the working class and
the peasantry, and including peo-
ple of imperialist classes and
parties constitutes the “steel
wall” of the people. ;
The French dream of dismem-
bering Viet-Nam and establishing
“autonomous states” among the

_ national minorities has failed ig-

nominiously. At the end of 1948,

_after the Viet-Minh’s order for

wiping out the puppet authorities

was issued, 95 percent of these

ceased to exist.
The puppet central government

has always been a farce, After

several reshuffles due to its im-
potency, it has been reformed
with the same traitors, known
not only to the Viet-Namese
people but also to the outside
world for their infamous: activi-

TENURE:

. village and provincial

-in the midst of the war.

BUIEUEIBLE) is) URL R ETE

ties.

At the same time, as the Resis-
tance Movement has developed
and advanced, the people’s gov-
ernment has gone from strength
to strength. In order to increase
the participation of the workers
and peasants in the direction of
public affairs, new elections of
people’s
committees have been held even
The
people, including those residing
in the enemy—controlled areas,
enthusiastically participated in
the elections. In the French oc-
cupied city of Tourane, 90 per-
cent of the population cast their
votes despite ferocious French
reprisals.

The, correct national policy of
the Viet-Namese Government has
also succeeded in bringing the
peoples of Laos and Cambodia

‘into close co-operation with the

Viet-Namese people in the fight
against the common enemy.
These states were formerly used
by the French as strong bases
against the Viet-Namese inde-
pendence movement, but now in
Laos a people’s government, and
in Cambodia a national Libera-
tion Committee, rule over vast
teritories freed by their own Lib-
eration Armies.

From the international point of
view, recognition of Viet-Nam by
the Socialist Soviet Union, the
People’s Republic of China and
other People’s Democracies “con-
stitutes the greatest achievement
in Viet-Nam’s history.” Viet-Nam

‘has become an integral part of

the mighty world front of peace
and democracy. It has the sup-
port of progressiye humanity, in-
cluding that of the French people
who are fighting against the col-
onial war in Viet-Nam and the

American policy of enslavement.

@ :
Having failed in the political
and military fields, the imperial-
ists have pursued a policy of
economic sabotage: demolishing
dykes, destroying crops, burning
down storehouses, strafing de-
fenceless peasants, slaughtering
cattle, occupying rice-producing
regions and blockading Viet:Na-
mese bases. They have spared
no efforts to starve the Viet-
Namese people. But in this, too,

they have failed, ‘

Viet-Namese troops, while
fighting back to protect the pea-
sants’ crops against the plunder-
ers,'compete with each other to
increase production. Two mil-
lion people died of hunger under

the French domination in 1945,

but no famine has been seen since
the establishment of the Demo-
cratic Republic, despite French
destruction of dykes, crops and
cattle.

Reconstruction has gone ahead
during the past four years in
spite of war conditions. A self-
sufficient economy along the

lines of a people’s democracy has

been built up with close cooper-
ation between the government

_ and private capital.

In addition to war industries,
consumers and producers coop-

yo

the

eratives and handicrafts are
much encouraged by the govern-

‘ment. Articles ranging from of-

fice equipment to chemical pro-
ducts and surgical instruments,
which were formerly imported
from France, can be now pro-
duced: in small quantities in the
liberated areas. The clothing
problem has been solved in the
greater part of the country,
thanks to the development of cot-
ton growing and weaving handi-
crafts.

As to agriculture, the slogan
“not an inch of land to remain
uncultivated, not a single hand
idle” has been thoroughly and
enthusiastically carried out by the
whole population. Land has been
reclaimed, old dykes repaired and
new ones built, in spite of mur-
derous French raids and syste-
matic destruction.

As a result, famine and floods
have been averted during the
past four years. To alleviate the
shortage of rice in some areas,
growing of maize, sweet
potato, manioc, and other staples

has been intensified.

A labor code was promulgated
in March, 1948, safeguarding the
rights and interests of the work-
ers. The workers share in profits
and participate in the direction
of the enterprises in which they
work. Family allowances have
been granted and the. principle
of “equal pay for equal work”
applied. Basic wages have been
fixed in accordance with the cost
of living. Trade unions ensure
for the workers the full exercise
of their rights.

These and other steps, such
as development of health services,
prohibition of the sale of opium,
restriction of the sale of alcohol
and prohibition of prostitution,
have succeeded in: altering com-
pleting the conditions of Viet-
Namese society within four years.
In most parts of the liberated
areas, beggary, robbery, and
banditry have completely disap-
peared.

The recent successes of the
Viet-Nam People’s Army have
brought the American imperial-
ists More and more openly into
the picture. The French ruling
circles, who hitherto kept a black-
out on all news of their losses
in Viet-Nam, now even exagger-
ate their weaknesses in order to
secure moré American aid. But
the humiliating conditions im-
posed by the American imperial-
ists are increasing the anger of
the French people and their op-
Position to the French “dirty
war” against Viet-Nam. In ad-
dition, the _Semerous action of
the Viet-Nam government in re-
leasing French prisoners of war
has made a profound impression,
in France, as vivid proof of the
Viet-Namese people's desire for
peace.

The Viet-Nam people’s_ suc-
cesses have been a hard blow to
the American interventionists
plotting the suppression of the
national liberation movements in
Asia. They: have done their best
to bolster up the French mercen-
aries. They are now pouring in
more arms, planes and tanks.

In a message to his people, fol-

‘lowing the recent victories, Presi-

dent Ho Chi Minh said\ “We
have won the recent battles, but
we all must bear in mind that
we will have to overcome even

greater difficulties and endure

even greater hardships in order
‘to wipe out all the French im-
perialist forces, oppose the Amer-
ican interventionists and liberate
the whole territory of our father-
land. We must not indulge in
‘self-complacency or under-esti-
mate our enemy following our
recent victory.

“However, thanks to the unity,
enthusiasm and perseverance of
our people, the heroism of our
army and the determination of
our government, we are sure to
overcome all difficulties and win

complete victory.”

PACIFIC TRIBUNE — FEBRUARY 16, 1951 — PAGE 5